Finally saw Lust, Caution. Ang Lee is in total control, channeling both Hitchcock and Polanski as he switches between classic thriller and masochistic romance with every turn. Wei Tang is formidable, but outgunned by Tony Leung Chiu Wai in a monster performance. Two enthusiastic thumbs way up, as S&E used to say.
The New Yorker examines brainstorming, noting that its supportive, considerate framework doesn’t work since it lacks dissent:
Dissent stimulates new ideas because it encourages us to engage more fully with the work of others and to reassess our viewpoints. “There’s this Pollyannaish notion that the most important thing to do when working together is stay positive and get along, to not hurt anyone’s feelings,” she says. “Well, that’s just wrong. Maybe debate is going to be less pleasant, but it will always be more productive. True creativity requires some trade-offs.
I walked away from brainstorming years ago after realizing it was a group preening exercise. My preferred approach is to brief my team, have them go away and think, and return to debate their findings.
As for teams, the New Yorker quotes sociologist Brian Uzzi, who studied why some Broadway productions failed while others succeeded:
“The best Broadway teams, by far, were those with a mix of relationships,” Uzzi says. “These teams had some old friends, but they also had newbies. This mixture meant that the artists could interact efficiently—they had a familiar structure to fall back on—but they also managed to incorporate some new ideas. They were comfortable with each other, but they weren’t too comfortable.
I’ve noticed this with my favorite filmmakers. They’ll typically fall into a long-term relationship with their D.O.P, editor, and composer, but change-up the screenwriters, production designers, and co-producers.
Comfortable, but not too comfortable.
Ah, Audrey.
The headline comes from Andy Baio in the comment thread from Yancy Strickler’s news that two Kickstarter projects hit $1m within 4 hours of each other.
There are crazy days and then there are days like yesterday. Kickstarter has experienced some frantic hours but nothing like what happened in the 24-hour span between Wednesday at 6:54pm and Thursday at 6:44pm. Two million-dollar projects, a major political speech involving Kickstarter, an amazing band launching a project for a comeback 20 years in the making… the list goes on.
The list does go on. And on. And somewhere on that long list, written between the lines, is the sentiment of Baio’s comment.
The internets have already robbed the media barons of their marketing and distribution monopolies. Finance was the last wall of defence, a moat of money that was too thick and deep to bridge. No longer. Kickstarter is Daniel Plainview—and he’s drinking his milkshake.
Terry Gilliam on filmmaking (aka “himself”):
Growing up is for losers.
Film school is for fools.
Auteurism is out.
Fil-teurism is in.
Put your ideas in a drawer. Take them out as needed.
All you’ve really got in life is story.
Command the audience with your lens.
Nothing can defeat a director who is one with his actors.
Surround yourself with improvisers.
Directing is not for the faint-of-heart. Or the sane.
Be an enlightened despot.
Bonus Lesson: Whatever you do, don’t work with the Weinsteins.
Via oberholtzer
Over the holidays, a Montreal design studio called Dynamo decided to use their typographic skills to create unique gifts: a selection of chocolate bars inscribed with positive mantras for the new year. And they didn’t just use any kind of chocolate for their sweet sayings, they teamed with…
Spielberg, by Mark Seliger.
Master ad man David Ogilvy explains his flabby copywriting skills in this letter to Mr. Ray Calt, noting:
At this point I can no longer postpone the actual copy. So I go home and sit down at my desk. I find myself entirely without ideas. I get bad-tempered. If my wife comes into the room I growl at her.
Ogivly would get along famously with Gene Fowler, who once quipped: Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
My favorite line on writing came recently, though, from screenwriter Jesse Laske:
Only 10% of the writing process is actual writing. The other 90% is a subtle mix of procrastination and self-doubt.
Excuse me while I hunt for some more bon mots to avoid my current workload.
From the letter accompanying Facebook’s filing, Zuckerberg writes:
Hacking is also an inherently hands-on and active discipline. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works. There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: “Code wins arguments.”
Amen.
I loved Daytrippers, so I was eager to watch Greg Mottola’s Adventureland. Beautiful film. Good structure, great cast, fab soundtrack. But what blew me away was Anne McCabe’s cut of the film. It’s rhythm is so damn perfect and there isn’t a wasted frame. What a talent. IMDB’d her to find that she also cut Maria Full of Grace and You Can Count on Me, two other films I admire.
Warner Brothers, struggling to hold onto diminishing DVD sales, has opted to cripple Netflix users who actually want to watch their films. Venturebeat reports:
Warner Brothers is now imposing additional stipulations for its DVD movie new releases. Starting Feb. 1, the company has decided to restrict Netflix users from adding any new DVD releases to their queue until 28 days after the DVD goes on sale in retail stores.
The delays and queue restrictions are part of an overall effort by Warner Brothers to boost its ailing DVD sales. The company thinks that by lengthening the time it takes for a movie to reach other platforms, it will increase demand for the DVD, and in turn make more money.
Flawless plan. Consumers have shown a strong willingness to care about release windows and follow the lead of studio marketers.
Not allowing Netflix users to conveniently wait out the delayed availability of new DVDs fits within Warner Brothers new strategy. The company clearly wants consumers to feel the inconvenience and discomfort of not being able to watch these newly released movies immediately because it makes the option of buying the DVD much more attractive.
Replace the word “strategy” with “jackassery” and this all makes much more sense.
Amazon is now licensing their books to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for real-world penetration and to work around B&N’s “we won’t sell this unless you do that” stipulation.
Watching this ongoing relationship between New York and Seattle reminded me of the relationship between John Hurt (pictured, on table) and what is about to emerge from his sad, infested body.
A decade ago, publishers thought Amazon was a toy. Turns out toys grow into something not entirely playful.
THR:
Allen had McAdams in mind for the role of Gil’s demanding fiancee when writing the screenplay, selling her the part by telling her: “You don’t want to go your whole life playing these beautiful girls. You want to play some bitchy parts. It’s much more interesting for you.”
What actor in the last 20 years has needed to be “sold” to be in a Woody Allen film?
Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher dig into Apple’s supply chain:
Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States.
In China, it took 15 days.
Staggering.
